This week on Nation's Restaurant News, the top story was Starbucks permanently closing 16 stores due to safety concerns. The company confirmed that six stores in Los Angeles, two stores in Portland, six stores in Seattle, one in Washington, D.C. and one in Philadelphia will permanently close due to drug use by customers and members of the public. The employees of these stores will be transferred to new locations.
In other news, KFC announced Monday the release of its first-ever chicken nuggets. The new menu item is being tested at select stores of the Yum brand in the Charlotte, N.C. area (Concord, Mint Hill, Shelby, and Salisbury) and is available in 8, 12- and 36-piece meals starting at $3.49 starting July 18 as a LTO menu item.
Also, McDonald’s Corp. has agreed to buy out one of its longtime franchise groups, the Caspers Company of Tampa, Fla., the companies confirmed Tuesday.
Blake Casper and his brother-in-law, Robert “Robby” Adams, the third generation of the company that has operated McDonald’s since 1958, plan to retire after the sale of 60 restaurants in the Tampa and Jacksonville, Fla., markets on Oct. 1, the Chicago-based parent company said in a field office message viewed by Nation’s Restaurant News.
See what else was trending on NRN.com this week.